Police say fourth pizza delivery driver robbed at Taunton Woods

Another Taunton pizza-delivery driver has been robbed at gunpoint, police said, at the same building inside the same apartment complex.

Police say four drivers, none of whom were injured, were held up at Building C of Taunton Woods apartments, at 840 County St.

All four robberies have occurred within the past three and a half weeks, police said.

The latest robbery was Thursday night, when police said a Domino’s Pizza driver was robbed of about $40.

Police said the “shaken and visibly upset” driver came into police headquarters at 10:15 p.m. claiming that as he began walking through one of the building’s security doors, which was not locked, a man holding a gun by his leg approached from the side of the building.

The robber, he told police, ordered him to “drop the pizza, empty your pockets and give me everything you got.”

A second man, who appeared to be an accomplice, was standing in the immediate area watching the robbery, the victim said.

The 22-year-old victim said he then ran to his car and drove straight to the police station.

He said the gunman, whose weapon appeared to be a silver-colored, semi-automatic handgun, had a slender build, dark skin and stood between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet tall.

Police said a driver for Pizza Hut on Broadway was robbed of $150 last Sunday when he tried delivering an order at Building C.

That victim said the gunman as a thin, black male in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall with a trimmed mustache and beard. He described the weapon was a “blue-steel, semi-automatic gun,” police said.

A woman delivering pizza for the Papa Gino’s across the street in Taunton Depot shopping plaza, was robbed at gunpoint the night of Aug. 1, police said.

That victim gave a similar description of the gunman, police said.

And on July 30, police said a Papa Gino’s driver was robbed by a man matching the same description holding a handgun at the same building. Not everyone living at Building C knew about the recent rash of holdups.

“Oh my Jesus,” Maria Andrade said when informed of the robberies.

Andrade said she’s lived in the building for a year and half and that she has two children, one 8 and the other, who is now 1.

“I don’t want my kids to live in an unsafe place,” she said.

Andrade said Taunton Woods management should install video-surveillance cameras. She also said residents of Building C should have been informed about the robberies.

The Domino’s driver told police he was trying to deliver a pizza to apartment 204 in Building C.

A woman identifying herself as Audrey Perry answered the door at Apartment 204.

Perry, 31, said she and her 13-year-old son have lived there for more than six years. She said the two of them and her boyfriend were not at home Thursday night when the latest robbery occurred.

Because of the robbery reports, Perry said they are trying to move into a different building in the housing complex.

Building C is located at the rear of the complex and is the most isolated of the buildings in Taunton Woods.

Regina Maliff, property manager of the Peabody Properties-owned apartment complex, said she has been in close contact with Taunton police.

Maliff also said she’s working with police to organize a volunteer neighborhood crime watch group to monitor activity and report any suspicious individuals to police.

Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh said he could not comment on the robberies because they are part of an ongoing investigation. But he said forming a neighborhood watch group, similar to other groups in the city, is a good idea.

Carlos Ferreira, owner of the Domino’s Pizza on Tremont Street, said he will continue to process delivery orders from Building C in Taunton Woods.

Ferreira said his drivers and managers follow a protocol of returning a call before the driver leaves the store to the number calling in the order, in order to confirm it is identical.

He also advises his drivers not to carry more than $20 at a time.

“It sounds like the same guy,” Ferreira said. “I hope they catch these guys.”

Ferreira said the employee who was robbed came back to work on Friday and was making deliveries.

The store manager for Papa Gino’s directed all questions to the company’s corporate headquarters in Dedham. A manager for the Taunton Pizza Hut also said questions should be directed to headquarters in Dallas.